Jersey City mayoral candidate Mussab Ali is pledging not to take any donations from city vendors that have been awarded a contract in the past two years, calling on the other candidates to do the same.
By John Heinis/Hudson County View
“I have not and will not accept campaign donations from professional service providers—such as lawyers, consultants, bankers, or insurers—who have held a
contract with the City of Jersey City in the past two years,” Ali said in a statement.
“I will continue to reject donations from vendors who have received contracts for ‘extraordinary unspecified services’ like public relations, lobbying, parking garage management, or other consulting/management services with the City of Jersey City in the past two years.”
Ali, in his own way, is making light of the fact that ex-Gov. Jim McGreevey, Hudson County Commissioner Bill O’Dea (D-2), and Ward E Councilman James Solomon have built their war chests with city vendors to varying degrees (Solomon has never taken donations from local developers).
The fifth candidate in the race, Council President Joyce Watterman, is the only candidate Ali has outraised as of March 30th, the end of the first quarter which the latest campaign finance reports detailed.
He says that if elected, he will establish a clear, public, and competitive bidding process for all vendor selections, create meaningful barriers to pay-to-play practices (within the limits of the law) and ensure every dollar spent serves the public – not political insiders.
“This is about trust. Jersey City residents deserve a government that works for them. I make this pledge to our community—and I invite all candidates running for office to sign this pledge with me,” Ali concluded.
The Jersey City non-partisan municipal elections, which includes the mayor’s seat and all nine city council seats, are set for November 4th.
This dude needs to put his ego aside and dropout already before he ends up guaranteeing McGreevey winning.
At this point, he and Watterman are only in it to barter their voters in the inevitable runoff for some sort of gain.